Bonitas Member Magazine B-Living Issue 1, 2019 | Page 31

Recipe
Stuffed pumpkin
What you’ll need:
• 1 medium-sized pumpkin or round squash (about 1 kg)
• 4 table spoon olive oil
• 100 g wild rice
• 1 large fennel bulb
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• ½ tablespoon chilli flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 30 g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1 large pack parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seed paste)
• Pomegranate seeds, to serve
Source, BBC Food
Method:
1. Heat oven to 200°C/180°C. Cut the top off the pumpkin
or squash and use a metal spoon to scoop out the
seeds. Get rid of any pithy bits but keep the seeds for
another time. Put the pumpkin on a baking tray, rub
with 2 tablespoon of the oil inside and out, and season
well. Roast in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes or
until tender, with the ‘lid’ on the side.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the wild rice well and cook following
pack instructions, then spread out on a baking tray
to cool. Thinly slice the fennel bulb and apple, then
squeeze over ½ the lemon juice to stop discolouration.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon oil in a frying pan. Fry
the fennel seeds and chilli flakes, then, once the seeds
begin to pop, stir in ½ the garlic and the fennel. Cook
for 5 minutes until softened, and then mix through the
apple, pecans and lemon zest. Remove from the heat.
Add the mixture to the cooked rice, then stir in the
chopped parsley and taste for seasoning.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cooked pumpkin and return
to the oven for 10-15 minutes until everything is piping
hot. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining lemon juice with
tahini, the rest of the garlic and enough water to
make a dressing. Serve the pumpkin in the middle of
the table, topped with pomegranate seeds and the
dressing.
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